Mont-Tremblant Friday practice summary

SZOKE FASTEST IN PRACTICE
MONT-TREMBLANT, QC -- The new Parts Canada Superbike Championship season
started with a familiar name at the top of the timesheets Friday, as
defending series champion Jordan Szoke led practice at Le Circuit ...

SZOKE FASTEST IN PRACTICE

MONT-TREMBLANT, QC -- The new Parts Canada Superbike Championship season
started with a familiar name at the top of the timesheets Friday, as
defending series champion Jordan Szoke led practice at Le Circuit Mont-
Tremblant.

The Brantford, Ont. racer rode his Canadian Kawasaki Motors Kawasaki
ZX-10R to a time of one minute, 40.409 seconds around the 4.275km (2.65-
mile) circuit. Cochrane, Alta.'s Clint McBain was second fastest with a time
of 1:41.170 on his Suzuki Acceleration Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 and Steve
Crevier of Maple Ridge, B.C. was third on the Team Toyota Yamaha / Fast
Company Yamaha YZF-R1 with a lap at 1:41.503.

"I can't complain. I'm very determined and I'm very eager to defend
the number one plate," said Szoke, who won five of seven races last season,
including the round at Mont-Tremblant. "We rolled in here very confident.
Mosport [International Raceway] and this track are my favourites."

Szoke will try to claim the first Inside Motorcycles Pole Position
Award of the season and four points toward his title defence in qualifying
Saturday afternoon.

"We're always fiddling with the set up," he said. "We made one big
change at lunch and that made a difference in our times."

McBain said a change to a new shock late in the afternoon practice
allowed him to drop his times by a second.

"We still have some work to do but we went in the right direction,"
he said. "We're not a big team but I know we're every bit as good as the
others. We set a goal to get in the high 41s and we exceeded that."

Crevier is making a return to the Superbike class after a year away.

Last year's Parts Canada Superbike runner-up Kevin Lacombe of
Granby, Que. placed fourth in practice with a time of 1:41.640 aboard his
Team Toyota Yamaha / Brooklin Cycle Yamaha YZF-R1 and Kars, Ont.'s Andrew
Nelson completed the top five with a 1:41.640 on the Z1 Cycletech Yamaha.

Szoke was also quickest in practice for the Yoshimura Pro 600 Sport
Bike Championship competitors with a time of 1:42.383 on his Kawasaki ZX-6R.
Crevier placed second with a 1:42.769 on his Yamaha YZF-R6 and Nelson was
third fastest at 1:43.320 aboard another Yamaha.

Quebec City's Marie-Josee Boucher set the quickest time in practice
for International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike with a time of
1:49.351 on her Honda CBR600RR. Nadine Lajoie qualified on the front row for
last season's Amateur 600 round at Mont-Tremblant, and the last woman to
stand on a national podium was Kathleen Coburn at Gimli, Man. in 1985.

Toronto's Michael Taylor led the practice times for the Thunder "big
twins" class with a lap at 1:48.516 on his BMW R1200S.

Derek Vammus of Orangeville, Ont. was quickest in practice for the
Suzuki SV650 National Cup with a 1:55.154.

Qualifying for all five national classes will take place on Saturday
afternoon, with practice sessions starting at 9:00 a.m. Feature races will
go Sunday.